AUBURN, Alabama -- A proposal to "sunset" Auburn University's professional flight program has an incoming freshman in a tight spot.

Peter Daniel, currently seventh in his class at his suburban Pennsylvania high school, will graduate next month with aspirations to become a commercial airline pilot.

Passing up a $57,000 scholarship to attend the University of Miami, he chose to pursue that goal at Auburn primarily because of an internship agreement with JetBlue, called the gateway program.

The program pairs students with JetBlue pilot mentors, secures them entry-level jobs at regional and commuter airlines following graduation, and guarantees them an interview at JetBlue once they've logged enough flight hours.

It could get Peter in the pilot's seat of a commercial airliner years ahead of most would-be pilots.

"This was basically a seamless transition to the cockpit," said Frank Daniel, Peter's father and a commercial pilot with JetBlue Airways. "It took just
eight years, and that now has been taken away, and I think that's a
little short sighted on Auburn's part."

With financial-aid and enrollment deadlines already passed, Peter's collegiate plans are also uncertain.

"My biggest complaint is that they probably knew this was coming, but they did not give us that information early on," Peter's father said.

"My son had a $57,000 scholarship to the University of Miami and scholarships at other colleges, and those are all gone, and that really infuriated me."

Terminating the professional flight major likely would result in
JetBlue ending the gateway program at Auburn, says Rob Maruster, chief
operating officer of JetBlue, who spoke at Auburn's commencement
ceremony this month.

"We would be forced to reevaluate and likely
terminate our gateway agreement with Auburn University," he said. "Because at the end of the
day, the point is to graduate future aviators."

As an out-of-state student, Peter's family will pay more than $13,000 a semester -- minus a $5,000 academic scholarship -- to attend Auburn. In-state students pay just under $5,000 a semester.

Peter's father said they've been informed by the school that Peter will be able to enroll in professional flight classes, but they're still not certain the the major will still exist when Peter is ready to declare, which typically doesn't happen until junior year.

They're also uncertain whether the program will still be accredited by the Aviation Accreditation Board International when Peter is ready to graduate.

AABI warned Auburn in November it would pull accreditation if it did not hire more full-time tenure-track professors for the program and make other minor changes.

Pilots who graduate from unaccredited flight programs must log twice as many flight hours -- 1,500 instead of 750 -- to fly a commercial airliner.

"I'm paying fairly high tuition for uncertainty," said Peter's father.

If the internship program is terminated at Auburn, he said, it could take Peter years longer to secure a commercial piloting job unless he is willing to transfer to one of four other schools with the JetBlue gateway program: Jacksonville University, the University of Delaware, North Dakota State and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Transferring could delay his graduation if some of his Auburn credits are not accepted by the other school, he said.

"We chose Auburn for a very specific reason, because it doesn't just graduate people who can fly airplanes, it graduates good people," Maruster said. "I really believe in the education Auburn delivers as an alumni there."

Hardgrave said last week that terminating the professional flight program would enable the school to save the aviation management program and make needed changes to the program.

He also said outsourcing flight instruction would create more opportunities for students and people in the community to learn to fly.

A university spokesman, Mike Clardy, said Hardgrave is going to work with AABI to ensure accreditation is continued.

An academic review committee is expected to consider Hardgrave's recommendation in September.

Peter's father said the second reason for choosing Auburn was that it offered a more diverse field of study in case Peter decided not to become a pilot.Updated at 4:51 p.m. May 17, 2013 to changes year to semester in tuition estimate.